Funtown Splashtown USA
Encyclopedia
Funtown Splashtown USA is a family-owned amusement park
located in Saco, Maine
, in the United States
.
restaurant. Ken’s brother-in-law, Andre Dellaire opened a mini-golf course that previous year next to Marvel Drive-In. In 1963, Andre opened a go-kart
track behind his mini golf course, and in 1964 Ken added batting cage
s and an archery
range in 1967 behind Marvel Drive In. Over the course of the next few years, Cormier and Dellaire added several kiddie and carnival
-style rides including SkySlides and Swinging Gyms. A gift shop
was also opened.
In 1967, Cormier and Dellaire formed a partnership
and Funtown U.S.A. was born. Over the next few years, Funtown added a Zipper
, outdoor bumper cars, and a Bayern Kurve
named “Luv Machine”.
In 1996, Cormier bought out the remaining Dellaire interest at the park and renamed it to Funtown Splashtown U.S.A. with the addition of the waterpark.
, Excalibur
, as well as New England's longest and tallest log flume
, Thunder Falls. It also has a 220 feet (67.1 m) Drop Tower called Dragon's Descent. One of the park's most popular rides is the Astrosphere, which is an indoor Scrambler
which features a state-of-the-art laser and light show while playing ELO
's Fire on High
.
The Splashtown segment features Pirate's Paradise, a large interactive waterpark playground which dumps hundreds of gallons of water onto its guests every few minutes. For the 2007 season, an expansion was built that doubled the size of the waterpark and added two new thrill slides
, Tornado and Mammoth.
Kiddy Rides
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
located in Saco, Maine
Saco, Maine
Saco is a city in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 18,482 at the 2010 census. It is home to Ferry Beach State Park, Funtown Splashtown USA, Thornton Academy, as well as General Dynamics Armament Systems , a subsidiary of the defense contractor General Dynamics...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
In 1959, Ken and Violet Cormier opened Marvel Drive In, a drive-inDrive-in
A drive-in is a facility such as a bank, restaurant, or movie theater where one can literally drive in with an automobile for service. It is usually distinguished from a drive-through. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk out...
restaurant. Ken’s brother-in-law, Andre Dellaire opened a mini-golf course that previous year next to Marvel Drive-In. In 1963, Andre opened a go-kart
Go-kart
thumb|A [[Kart racing|racing kart]] at the [[Commission Internationale de Karting|CIK-FIA]] European Championship 2008A go-kart is a small four-wheeled vehicle...
track behind his mini golf course, and in 1964 Ken added batting cage
Batting cage
A batting cage is an enclosed cage for baseball players to practice the skill of batting.It is usually made of netting or a chain-link fence and rectangular in shape. A batter stands at one end of the cage, with a pitching machine at the opposing end...
s and an archery
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
range in 1967 behind Marvel Drive In. Over the course of the next few years, Cormier and Dellaire added several kiddie and carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
-style rides including SkySlides and Swinging Gyms. A gift shop
Gift shop
A gift shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs....
was also opened.
In 1967, Cormier and Dellaire formed a partnership
Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
and Funtown U.S.A. was born. Over the next few years, Funtown added a Zipper
Zipper (ride)
The Zipper is an amusement-thrill ride popular at carnivals and amusement parks in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It features strong vertical G-forces, numerous spins, and a noted sense of unpredictability....
, outdoor bumper cars, and a Bayern Kurve
Bayern Kurve
The Bayern Kurve is an amusement park and carnival ride made in both a portable and park model that debuted in 1965 and was invented by Anton Schwarzkopf, a legendary German engineer of amusement rides. During the ride, riders sit in one of the sixteen bobsled-themed cars that travel at a...
named “Luv Machine”.
In 1996, Cormier bought out the remaining Dellaire interest at the park and renamed it to Funtown Splashtown U.S.A. with the addition of the waterpark.
Featured attractions
The park features Maine's only wooden roller coasterWooden roller coaster
A wooden roller coaster is most often classified as a roller coaster with laminated steel running rails overlaid upon a wooden track. Occasionally, the structure may be made out of a steel lattice or truss, but the ride remains classified as a wooden roller coaster due to the track design...
, Excalibur
Excalibur (Funtown Splashtown USA)
Excalibur is a wooden roller coaster at Funtown Splashtown USA in Saco, Maine. It is the tallest and longest roller coaster in Northern New England. The ride runs with a single 2-bench Philadelphia Toboggan Company train...
, as well as New England's longest and tallest log flume
Log flume (attraction)
Log flumes originally referred to a special construct used to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain to a sawmill by using flowing water. Today, however, the term is also used to refer to an amusement ride consisting of a water flume and artificial hollow logs or boats...
, Thunder Falls. It also has a 220 feet (67.1 m) Drop Tower called Dragon's Descent. One of the park's most popular rides is the Astrosphere, which is an indoor Scrambler
Twist (ride)
The Twist, also known as the Twister, Cyclone, Sizzler, Scrambler, Merry Mixer, Jambalaya, or Grasscutter is an amusement ride in which suspended riders spinning in cars experience the illusion that they will crash into other suspended, spinning cars. Riders are seated in small carriages clustered...
which features a state-of-the-art laser and light show while playing ELO
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...
's Fire on High
Fire On High
"Fire on High" is the opening instrumental track from the 1975 Electric Light Orchestra album Face the Music.The song was the UK B-side to the band's worldwide hit single Livin' Thing, issued in blue vinyl...
.
The Splashtown segment features Pirate's Paradise, a large interactive waterpark playground which dumps hundreds of gallons of water onto its guests every few minutes. For the 2007 season, an expansion was built that doubled the size of the waterpark and added two new thrill slides
Water slide
A water slide is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size...
, Tornado and Mammoth.
Funtown rides
Major & Family Rides- Excalibur Roller CoasterExcalibur (Funtown Splashtown USA)Excalibur is a wooden roller coaster at Funtown Splashtown USA in Saco, Maine. It is the tallest and longest roller coaster in Northern New England. The ride runs with a single 2-bench Philadelphia Toboggan Company train...
(CCI Wooden Coaster) - Dragon's Descent (S&S Turbo Drop)
- Thunder Falls Log Flume (OD Hopkins)
- Astrosphere (Eli Bridge ScramblerTwist (ride)The Twist, also known as the Twister, Cyclone, Sizzler, Scrambler, Merry Mixer, Jambalaya, or Grasscutter is an amusement ride in which suspended riders spinning in cars experience the illusion that they will crash into other suspended, spinning cars. Riders are seated in small carriages clustered...
inside a dome with lights and music) - Antique Cars
- Balloon Race (Ferris wheelFerris wheelA Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
) - Barney Oldfield Roadsters
- Bumper BoatsBumper boatsBumper boats are an amusement park ride that uses inner tube shaped watercraft that can be steered by the rider. Some are driven by electric motors, some by gasoline engines, and some require the rider to propel the craft by pedaling. Most are equipped with water guns for duels with other riders...
- Bumper Cars
- Casino (Chance Morgan TrabantWipeout/Trabant (Ride)The Wipeout is a newer form of the Trabant. The rides are very similar as they both were made by Chance-Morgan. They each spin horizontally, and then start fluctuating in a wavelike manner. There is a motor underneath the ride that makes both of these rides raise up and down...
) - Classic CarouselCarouselA carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
(Chance Morgan) - Flying Trapeze (Chance Morgan)
- Grand Prix RacersKart racingKart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...
- Sea DragonPirate ship (ride)A pirate ship is a type of amusement ride, consisting of an open, seated gondola which swings back and forth, subjecting the rider to various levels of angular momentum....
(Chance Morgan) - Thunder BoltMusic ExpressA Music Express is an amusement park and carnival ride based on the original Caterpillar rides of Germany. Several near-identical ride designs are also produced by other companies; Musik Express by Italian company Bertazzon and US Majestic Rides, Himalaya by American company Wisdom Rides,German...
(Chance Morgan) - Tilt-A-Whirl (Sellner)
- Tempest in the Tea Cups (Mack)
- Wild Mouse (Maurer Söhne)
Kiddy Rides
- Umbrella Cars (Hampton)
- Merry-Go-Round (Allan Hershell)
- Helicopters (Allan Hershell)
- Kiddie Swings
- Kiddie Boats
- Frog Hopper (S&S)
- Red Baron Planes (Allan Hershell)
- Cactus Canoes (Kiddie Canoe Ride)
- Kiddie Bumper Boats
- Kiddie Train
SplashTown water slides and pools
- MammothMammothA mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
- tube slide (Proslide) - TornadoTornadoA tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
- tube slide (Proslide) - Portland Pirates Paradise - 8 water slides (WhiteWater West) (rebranded in 2007 in partnership with the Portland Pirates, the local AHL affiliate)
- Corkscrew- mat slide
- Liquid Lightning- tube slide (WhiteWater West)
- Speed Slides- twin racing slides
- Splish & Splash- enclosed tube slides, one in complete darkness
- Fun Lagoon - Kiddie Pool
- Mushroom Pool - Wading Pool
Former attractions
- Galaxi Roller CoasterGalaxiGalaxi is the common name of a series of mass-produced roller coasters manufactured primarily by Italian company S.D.C, which went bankrupt in 1993...
(S. D. C.)—was at FunTown U.S.A. from 1978 until 2008; now replaced by a Maurer Söhne Wild Mouse - The Luv Machine (Bayern Kurve)
- UFO
- Giant Slide
- Captain Isaiah Cutler's Haunted House—was at FunTown U.S.A.’s MainePlay Amusements area from 1967 until closure in 1996 due to high operational costs
- Paratrooper
- Zipper
- Kartland Go-Kart Track
- Water Bugs Bumper Boats
- Balloon Flight
- Ferris Wheel